Fabricating epitaxial structures such as solar cells, LED's, lasers and IR cells is costly and complex. Solar cells have been fabricated forming inverted metamorphic (IMM) cells, by depositing the layers such as InGaP, GaAs, and InGaAs on a wafer or substrate such as GaAs often resulting in an array of a multiplicity of solar cells and then applying a carrier and removing the substrate by side etching it away. This process is slow and difficult and can result in poor and inconsistent performance. After removal of the substrate the processed epitaxial layers may be sawed into the individual solar cells. Solar cells have also been made by singulating the multiplicity of cells on, for example, a four inch wafer and then applying a carrier. The individual cells are then lifted off the substrate by etching along the singulation lines and underneath the individual cells This process is not optimal for mounting onto metal carriers and the individual cells so formed are difficult to process and handle. Often another material such as epoxy is incorporated, and further processing as well as final cell performance may be limited. Another shortcoming of such processing is that the wafers or substrates on which the epitaxial layers are grown, is often damaged or rendered unable to be reused, eliminating the cost benefits of epitaxial removal and substrate reuse.